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Engineers, planners, government officials, and advocates all around the globe are attempting to improve their towns and build more terrific walkable places with possible options to driving. But there is a looming trend that could undo all of that hard work: the growth of SUVs and light trucks.
This could all be solved if these pitiful suburbanites could just purchase little vehicles, station wagons, or minivans instead.
Script by Nicole Conlan and Jason Slaughter
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References and Further Reading
Tell Automakers: Fix front-end blind zones – Consumer Reports Petition
https://action.consumerreports.org/20221116_stop_blindspots
CityNerd: Difficulties with Pickup Trucks (Nebula)
https://nebula.tv/videos/citynerd-problems-with-pickup-trucks-why-the-growing-share-of-large-vehicles-is-bad-for-everyone?ref=notjustbikes
New Car Assessment Program
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/12/16/2015-31323/new-car-assessment-program
SUVs, pickup trucks more likely to hit pedestrians than automobiles, study discovers
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/03/17/suvs-pickups-pedestrian-fatalities-rise/7075333001/
The Ultimate List of Driving Statistics for 2023
https://driving-tests.org/driving-statistics/
High and Mighty: SUVs-the World’s Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way
Keith Bradsher [ISBN 9781586481230]
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/832299
Trucks And SUVs Are Now Over 80 Percent Of New Car Sales In The U.S.
https://jalopnik.com/trucks-and-suvs-are-now-over-80-percent-of-new-car-sale-1848427797
Mindgames on wheels – How marketing sold false vows of safety and haughtiness with SUVs
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ebd0080238e863d04911b51/t/6065dbeb73734b58372d797b/1617288180453
Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer 1997 (modified)
Sherman tank by Nyttend – Own work, Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16709601
Carsized.com
https://carsized.com
Global SUV earnings set another record in 2021, setting back efforts to abate emissions
https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/growth-in-co2-emissions-by-energy-sub-sector-from-2010-to-2021
Kids and Cars
Experiment involving SUV unveils hidden peril for little kids
https://www.kmbc.com/article/experiment-involving-suv-reveals-hidden-danger-for-small-children/28509643
SUVs second largest cause of emissions increase, figures unveil
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/25/suvs-second-biggest-cause-of-emissions-rise-figures-reveal
U.S. Pedestrian Fatalities Rise, While European Pedestrian Fatalities Fall
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2019/07/105095-us-pedestrian-fatalities-rise-while-european-pedestrian-fatalities-fall
Cyclist and Pedestrian Deaths Skyrocket in 2018 as Motorists Stay Safe
Why are US drivers killing so many pedestrians?
National Survey on Distracted Driving Attitudes and Behaviors
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/811729.pdf
The Car Cushion Hypothesis: Bigger Cars Lead to More Risk Taking—Evidence from Behavioural Data
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10603-022-09511-w
You Don’t Need A Full-Size Pickup Truck, You Need a Cowboy Costume
https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-size-pickup-truck-you-need-a-cowboy-costume
City drivers ‘should think again’ before purchasing SUVs
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56647128
Pickup Trucks – From Workhorse to Joyride
https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history
Transportation Alternatives – The Problem with Bigger Cars
https://www.transalt.org/newsletter/september-2-mcguinness-update-queens-open-streets-the-problem-with-bigger-cars
Unlicensed Driver Is Charged in Death of Baby in Stroller
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/nyregion/bronx-driver-kills-child.html
Tyre Extinguishers
https://www.tyreextinguishers.com/
EUROPEAN VEHICLE MARKET STATISTICS
https://eupocketbook.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Pocketbook_2022_23_Web.pdf
European new automobile market commences 2021 with record market share for SUVs
https://www.jato.com/european-new-car-market-starts-2021-with-record-market-share-for-suvs/
Save $20 on an annual subscription to Nebula: https://go.nebula.tv/notjustbikes
Consumer Reports petition: https://action.consumerreports.org/20221116_stop_blindspots
CityNerd on pickup trucks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIy5uv5-VrE
Truck babies can go cry somewhere else. I don’t have time for losers.
The external size of trucks increasing has more to do with government regulation in attempts to make them safer for pedestrian impacts than any desire by the makers or the drivers for them to be that way. The modern compact pickup is as big as a full sized pickup from the 90s because they have to change their design to incorporate those new regulatory requirements.
It’s interesting how much of the ills we rail against stem from government intrusion in market forces. Whether it be taxes and tariffs, regulations, or PROTECTIONS of corporate entities against liability for their malfeasance.
Property rights exist for a reason. While I’d prefer most people who need the space for people and things to drive a station wagon, I’d love to see those make a comeback, it is entirely immoral of me to attempt to force other people to conform to that subjective ideal via state violence. And it doesn’t help that many of the state interventions seem to hurt more than help. The sharp rise in pedestrian deaths AFTER the implementation of pedestrian safety regulations in their designs it quintessential government “helping”
This is a paid video of the Space Karen as he is not able to release his Cybertruck on time.
I’d agree a minivan is better than an SUV if your passengers are children. If you are going to have anyone taller than 5’10” getting into the back of a minivan it is an absolute chore. Even captain’s chairs don’t help much and you lose a seat for that slight improvement.
@Jerred Hamann ??? Every american maker that made sedans and coupes still makes sedans and coupes.
As you want a law against ‘superslødder’, you are by definition *WRONG!*
Great video, but I also want to point the quality and the good taste of footage used. Loved the 70’s HD clips.
I’ve been able to transport a 55 inch TV and sound bar in the back of my civic sedan.
I was able to move everything but my furniture in my civic when I moved too.
There’s quite a bit of space when you fold the rear seat down.
A hatchback would make loading and unloading a bit more easier though
The biggest problem is that the US has already reached the critical threshold where it is simply unsafe to drive a smaller car on the roads infested with trucks. The impact is just too unfair towards the other driver. Solution = No trucks in cities, unless you are carrying a heavy load that doesnt fit into a normal car. No parking of trucks in cities unless you are loading/unloading. Trucks on highways need to drive in their own lane…just like there are bus lanes…there should be a dedicated lane for heavy traffic. Heavy vehicles also damage road infrastructure more, so, they should be taxed higher than regular cars….maybe even require the use of special higher tax fuel( the opposite of how farming fuel works )
I don’t see why not just implement the same system as is used in most places, cars above 3.5 tonnes require a special commercial drivers license, which increases the limit that you can drive to 12t. This dissuades most people here from getting a stupidly huge truck (besides the ugly g wagon trust fund kids) because that license costs at least 2 times more, and takes more time to complete. I got that license, and you usually drive an 8t truck while learning for it, which makes you drive in a much safer manner in general.
This is the video I’ve been wishing for my whole life.
I’m not sure if its mentioned, but there also is the Section 179 tax loophole allowing private practice owners to write off a cost of a vehicle over 6000 pounds
“One of these vehicles is designed to efficiently carry lots of useful stuff, while the other is designed to carry fragile egos.” PERFECT
Thanks!
Thank you!
From a lot of interesting videos by you, this is probably one of the best so far, because I now know better the political circumstances, that led to this mess on the streets. Now considering having regular evening walks to let out air of some SUV’s tires 😉
Thanks so much! I’m glad you enjoyed the videos.